Rufus Roo jacket review thread

Ponkle22

englishwelshie wrote: »

hi jenny i received my jacket. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to test it out.

Feedback so far is that the jacket is very lightweight, pockets are of a good size. I like the fact that i can fit my handbag in it along with ipad, ds, psp, 2 cameras. I have kept a pocket for my purse and travel documents and there is still a bit of room for any items that we purchase when getting through security.

brilliant!!! :t:t

Ponkle22

again, BRILLIANT! I love the photos - I can just pictures the looks and wondering what you had concealed upon you!

Love it!! Wish I'd taken notice when this first went out.

dnl05 wrote: »

During my outbound flight at Gatwick, I wore the Rufus Roo jacket on top of my normal jacket. I must admit that between check-in and security, I did get a few odd looks at the airport from airport staff and passengers. However, I did not experience any problems during check-in, security or boarding the aircraft. When we landed at Guernsey, I noticed the Customs staff did look at me a bit longer than usual as I was passing through the "Nothing to Declare" section, but they did not stop me. So overall nobody bothered me during my outbound flight, but be prepared for the odd funny look!

During my return flight, I decided instead to wear my Rufus Roo jacket underneath my normal jacket (I had the same number of items packed in my Rufus Roo jacket). As this fairly bulky jacket was not immediately visible to all, I did not get any strange looks from anybody whatsoever. Again, no airport or security staff actually bothered me during my return flight.

CheeseCat

Okay here is my review:

Travelling from Birmingham International Airport to Dublin Airport via Ryanair

Positives

• Fits in ALOT of stuff. More than I expected
• Folds down easily when not in use
• No hassle through check in or security
• Distributes the weight rather than a shoulder bag

Negatives

• Snapped a zip handle trying to close a pocket (not overfilled)
• Not for those who wish to keep a low profile!

Here is what I was attempting to carry...
Quite a lot of stuff, including a hand luggage bag so that when I landed I didn't have to wear the jacket going through Dublin!


I was initially quite apprehensive about what the airline and security staff would say as I didn't think i'd get 'away' with wearing it, particularly knowing what Ryanair are like. I did have the hand luggage bag packed in though if it came to it!

Believe it or not everything fit into the jacket...


I did snap one of the zip pulls a little when closing it and the pocket wasn't strained or overfull. I could still operate the zip fine without the bit that came off but something to be aware of.

I passed through security fine - obviously I had to remove the jacket and scan it like I would scan my hand luggage. I got a few funny looks from other passengers but nothing major, I was expecting worse and/or a few comments. I would say don't wear it if you're someone who would be bothered being noticed a little more than normal though.

Getting onto the plane at Birmingham was also no problem at all, none of the staff questioned me, I had to wonder how many times they'd seen people wearing these before! I wonder with Ryanair's strict hand luggage policy maybe the staff are made aware that these are okay for now? I wasn't asked to remove the jacket and see if it fit in the hand luggage basket and they were actively checking people getting onto the plane.

Once I landed in Dublin I transferred everything into the hand luggage bag in the biggest pocket for a day in the city. The jacket folds down to a really small size to be held and stored in a bag.

I have to say that unlike the jacket, the bag really hurt my shoulder after a while, despite having just the same items in that I originally had in the pockets of the jacket - I would say that's a big plus for travelling as I suppose it must evenly distribute the weight more than a shoulder bag would.

So my summary would be that the jacket overall is a great way around the restrictions, after all I could've taken the jacket AND my filled hand luggage bag but I didn't want to chance it, I wanted to have a back up in case Ryanair gave me any problems. There are a couple of negatives as listed above but I think overall the positives really outweigh these.

I look forward to trying out my jacket again in the future! :T

Ponkle22

OMG CheeseCat I love the photo of you wearing the jacket - it has given me the greatest laugh of the year - I laughed so much at your buldging jacket until I cried - then the rest of the family had to look and a laugh too.

I cannot believe you didn't get many funny looks. Wouldn't bother me wearing one.

I love it!

We all want to know though, have you got a chocolate hairbrush in there? (ref your first photo). Its to the right of the leopard print thing.

jamsandwiches

Did you put the jacket in the overhead locker or did some poor soul have to sit next to you

CheeseCat

LOL I am glad my bulging jacket is a source of amusement Ponkle22
I can't see images on my work PC but I don't have a chocolate hairbrush (if I did, it wouldn't last long!) If its a little blue brush its just my mini hairbrush.. i'll check when I get home and I can see the images!

Oh and I forgot to say! I put the jacket in the overhead locker, I don't think i'd be popular otherwise

heatherw_01

Firstly, thank you for letting me test out this jacket.

Positive
Very light and easy to pack if needed
Holds lots of items (and I mean LOTS!)

Negative
VERY big

I packed my netbook into this as well as a book, my carry on items and all paperwork into the jacket and it fitted perfectly! As long as I had items in both sides, the weight was distributed perfectly. I had no problems at security, although I did get some odd looks. Probably because it is so big on me. I am a size 10 and this could easily fit someone size 20. I think it would be better if they made smaller sizes too. If you wear something over it, it might not look as bad.

I love the idea and usefulness of the jacket, just not the size

Lexxi

This is my review for travelling Liverpool-Italy-Bulgaria with Ryanair

We were taking an awful lot of luggage with us as we were pretty much camping in our house whilst we did some work to it, so this jacket really came in handy.
I was able to fit pretty much all of my clothes for two weeks except for two pairs of jeans in the pockets of the jacket, there was still room to spare, I just thought the jeans would be too bulky. I too took a spare bag with me - just in case I had problems with security. On the day we were flying it was so hot inside the airport that I had to carry it as I was sweltering. On the plane it had to go in the overhead locker.

I had no problems at check in or security from any staff or other passengers, my jacket was scanned, then they reversed it and scanned it again but let it through, OHs bag was searched after he had it scanned, which was so funny after all his comments about my 'suicide jacket.'

When we got to Italy it was 10pm and quite nice to put the jacket on as the extra weight warmed me up. Checking back in to fly out of Italy the check in girl barely even looked up and none of the other passengers really looked at me, not that I was aware of, again no problems with security.

With all the luggage in the pockets the jacket is quite compact when going in the overhead locker, car boot etc, you're also only carrying what the items weigh as the jacket is so light, my jacket with all the items weighed 3kg, we took a case that weighed almost that when empty.

I would think that the website suggests laptops and books to put in the pockets to keep it more streamlined and less bulky but I found it so handy for clothes, plus books and laptops would probably weigh more.
I didn't find the weight evenly distributed, I found it pulled on my neck when I was trying it out at home but I wore a jacket under mine at the airport so had a cushioning effect which made a difference.

Finally one of the other posters suggested the jacket should be in different sizes, I don't think you would get the same items in there with a smaller jacket but I do think that if the pockets were re-positioned then you could wrap the jacket around more easily and give the effect of all over bulk rather than just around the hips - for comfort as much as style!

The luggage we took in the hold was essential and we would never have got it in the overhead lockers or through security but the cost for 5 suitcases over 3 flights was about the same as the flights. I know next flight it will be hand luggage all the way and this jacket was so useful I will definately be using it again, especially as Ryanair seem to be cracking down on oversized handluggage, there was staff right before security at each airport making passengers check the dimensions of their handluggage

jammin_2

CheeseCat, you have bigger balls than me. Fair play.

soil_2

dickydonkin wrote: »

I haven't read all of the posts on this thread so I am unsure if anyone has mentioned this, but in my opinion (shoot me down if you wish) is that many may suggest that encouraging passengers to carry additional weight that cannot be verified is irresponsible.

Er, are you weighed before boarding? No.

So what happens if the Fat B@st@rds convention books its annual trip to Benidorm? Does the plane crash? Of course not.

For example, if 150 -200 people on an aircraft wore these coats stuffed to the brim, there is a likelihood that safety margins have been compromised.

But 150-200 people won't wear these coats, that's a ludicrous suggestion, besides the total amount of luggage doesn't change because people would still bring it otherwise.